Work Text:
It was a rainy afternoon when something stirred in the darkened lab of Doctor Noelle LaLinde but at first it was nothing, just a mute click and nothing more, however the noise grew as something stirred even more.
The clicks of finger joints moving for the first time, the muffled whirring of a small engine purring to life, the scraping of limbs dragging themselves on the lab table and then the fluttering of black eyelashes that revealed a pair of ashen grey eyes.
The eyes blinked once then twice before they slowly began to flutter across every item within the current field of view, eventually a head covered by a yellow helmet that bore a pair of bent dark antenna on top began to move from side to side.
The act of moving became increasingly easier to achieve and grew in fluidity as the robot pulled up into a sitting position, a set of sharply pointed wings located right by the shoulder blades began to vibrate until they became nothing less than a blur and the robot glanced back at the wings in wonder before smiling in eagerness.
Legs donned in what looked to be black tights and shins that were clad in a vibrant yellow armor with a thin black line by the ankles that ended in white boot like feet swung themselves over the edge of the lab table, the robot allowed hands that were clad in white glove like material to grip onto the edge before a leap was made.
The robot did not smack right into floor for instead she took flight into the stale air of the dark room.
She hovered in the air in an uncertain manner before a smile once more was plastered onto her sun kissed face, she twirled in place as an experiment and her body wobbled but remained in flight, her wings could carry her!
However, such a confined space was not the appropriate stage for which she would soar, no she needed something far more open and bright.
Her ashen eyes slid over to the door of the lab that had been left ajar and saw the sliver of light that pooled on out into the suffocating darkness, one of two barely sufficient light sources that the dark room had.
The robot briefly allowed her mildly curious gaze to glance over onto the still lit computer that rested on a sturdy looking work desk.
DATA TRANSFER DISRUPTED
INSTALLATION PROCESS FAILED
The robot shrugged at the displayed messages that meant nothing to her then focused on willing her flight path towards the ajar double doors, she reached out like a toddler who’d just learnt their first step and carefully allowed her hands to push the doors wide open.
She could now see the world around her much better, she was now hovering inside a hallway that housed multiple door further in that were all closed and on the opposite end the hallway opened up into the rest of the mysterious home.
The robot could now see herself in a clearer light and began to admire her odd looking self.
The yellow helmet that adorned her head did indeed have a pair of antenna that bent at the middle point but it was also adorned with a diamond shaped gem colored grayish blue on the forehead and a pair of white pieces that curved along the curve of her jawline.
Her forearms and abdominal area also bore that black tights like material that her thighs did, the rest of her arms from elbow down until they reached where her white hands were was also colored an intense yellow and her shoulders were styled like white puffy sleeves. Her chest armor was also yellow but the black lines around her collar was styled to look like a necklace and around her waist was a wide cone like skirt that matched her armor in color.
Her light blue wings fluttered to a stop as her feet touched down on the wooden floor and she began to walk out into an open area that connected to what could only be assumed as the rest of the house, her right antenna struck up at the sound of a feminine voice coming from one part of the house.
"...really strange, Plum and Tempo awakened fairly quickly but..."
The robot followed the voice until she peeked around the doorframe and looked into the interior of a small kitchen area, by the circular dinner dinner table sat a woman with lavender hair and clad in a white lab coat.
"I wonder if her CBU might be faulty somewhere, Al, what do you think?"
The woman was currently hunched over a steam cup that she was idly stirring with a teaspoon while talking to someone over the phone, her back was facing the robot so her gradual approach went completely unnoticed until she peeked over the woman’s shoulder and was greeted by a startled scream.
The woman actually threw herself out of her seat in fear and the cellphone went flying to parts unknown while the steaming cup spilled its hot content out onto the wooden table, thus staining it dark brown.
The robot was startled as well and leaped up into the air without thinking, the wings on her back let out a buzz once again as she hovered in place next to the table. The two stared at each other for a good while until the shock on the woman’s face wore off into tangible confusion.
"V...Vesper Woman?! How are you-! But I thought..."
The robot tilted her head at the name that was being used to address her, if it was indeed her name then she’d just have to settle for it, and Vesper Woman merely shrugged at whatever the woman was asking of her.
"You’re...functional? Is everything working as it should?"
Vesper Woman briefly scanned her CBU before nodding as the woman pulled herself up to a stand, her white lab coat had also been stained by the cup's spilled content, and went to quickly fetch a cleaning rag for the table.
"That’s a relief, sorry for screaming at you dear but you really startled me. Tell me, can you recite your name and purpose along with my own?"
Vesper Woman watched as her creator used the rag to soak up the liquid however it was obvious to see that the large stain on the table was there to stay.
"My name is Vesper Woman, my serial number is LMN-002 and my purpose is botanical cataloguing, you are Noelle LaLinde and you’re my creator."
It was strange to hear her own voice for the first time, let alone using it as well, but she liked how it sounded. Her voice wasn’t grating on the ears nor was it shrill instead it was airy but also smooth.
"Exactly, Vesper Woman is your Robot Master name but like your sisters, I’ve opted to give you a more personal name as well. That name is Dandelion LaLinde."
Vesper Woman pursed her lips at this secondary name, sure it did go with the theme of her purple but it also sounded a little silly as well, but decided to not reject it outright - perhaps she’d grow used to it over time.
The botanical Robot Master perked up at the sound of a door being swung open and a pair of voices grumbling in unison over the rain, Dr LaLinde smiled and abandoned her cleaning in favor of going out to greet whoever had just shown up.
Vesper Woman remained behind in the kitchen and finally touched down on the ground again after having hovered for so long in place, she swung her armored arms around boredly while halfheartedly listening to whatever was being spoken outside.
A rush of footfalls suddenly came towards her direction and before she could react she found herself being smothered by a tight embrace while also losing her balance as well, she and her affectionate attacker crashed into the table - a resounding crack echoed into the air and proclaimed the demise of the table.
"Took you long enough to awaken you sleepyhead! Thought we’d have to wait an entire day again, name's Plum and that’s Tempo and we’re your sisters!"
The botanical Robot Master laid amongst the remains of the broken table for a little while as her older sister babbled on in pure excitement that bordered on terrifying in its volume, she was finally hauled onto her feet by a second pair of arms and came face to face with another of her sisters.
"Are you okay?"
Vesper Woman nodded after a while as she took in her sister's appearance since it differed a deal compared to her own, her colors followed along a more down to earth and green theme while her other sister upon further inspection was more on the side of vibrancy with a pop like theme.
Tempo turned away from the youngest and instead fixed her twin who grinning unapologetically with a hard look.
"Being happy is one thing but breaking the table and risking to break our sister is another, you will help to clean this up."
The geological Robot Master sternly reprimanded while the reporter Robot Master groaned loudly and dramatically at the scolding.
'Which one of them is really the eldest?'
Vesper Woman pondered as their mother joined their little circle, she wore a fond but exasperated smile on her face as she pulled all three of her robotic daughters into a makeshift group hug, Tempo was still visibly miffed over the destruction of the table while Plum just shrugged easily at it and Vesper Woman merely smiled hesitantly at the strangeness of her new family.